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Citrus isn’t very seasonal right now, but some times you just have to mix things up! One of my good friends got married about a month and a half, and I was fortunate enough to be a bridesmaid. I was also asked to make cupcakes for the rehearsal dinner, which would be about 40 people. When deciding on cupcake flavors, I had to take into consideration the fact that the she doesn’t like chocolate! Yes, it may be due to her slight allergy, but still! :)Thus the joys of Pinterest! I was able to have her look at my cupcake board and see if anything jumped out at her. She picked out the key lime cupcakes I had pinned, but I wasn’t a big fan of the actual recipe so I took the concept and ran with it! Vanilla cupcakes infused with key lime zest, a tart kick of key lime curd, all topped off with a sweet vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream. Everyone loved them! I even tried to make them look fancier and wedding appropriate by attempting to pipe a rose on top. :) With the encroaching cooler weather, if you ever need a bright, delicious kick to remind you of summer, give these a try! Or they’d make a great weekend treat ;)One Year Ago:Italian Meatloaf

Key Lime CupcakesNote: Regular limes fan be used if key limes are unavailable.

To make the curd: In a medium saucepan, whisk together the key lime juice, sugar, egg yolks, eggs, and salt. Place the daucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Add the butter cubes and whisk until butter is melted and incorporated. Immediately remove from heat and pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Curd can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and key lime zest, using your fingers to really work the zest into the sugar. Add the butter and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Mix in the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients; beat each addition just until incorporated.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ full. Bake 20 to 24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the buttercream: Set a heatproof mixing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Combine the egg whites and sugar in the bowl. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F, or all sugar is dissolved and mixture is hot to the touch.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on low speed for 2 minutes, gradually increasing to high speed. Beat until stiff peaks form and mixing bowl is cool to the touch. With the mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add a couple tablespoons of butter at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating on medium-high speed until thick and smooth. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the vanilla; beat on low speed for 2 minutes to incorporate the vanilla and eliminate air bubbles. Spoon frosting into pastry bag fitted with large decorating tip.

To assemble cupcakes: Using an apple corer or a paring knife, cut out a well in the center of each cupcake; discard the cores. Fill each well with about 1 tablespoon of key lime curd; frost with vanilla buttercream. Store cupcakes in the refrigerator and bring to room temp before serving.

Who loves making cupcakes just for the sake of making cupcakes? I do!! They’re just so yummy and fun to make! And there are so many different flavor combos to try. If I waited for special occasions to make cupcakes, I wouldn’t make them nearly as often as I’d like. Which means my friends and coworkers wouldn’t get to enjoy them, either! :)I’ve made these cupcakes a few times now, and have loved them every single time. Maybe I just love Oreos too much… but Oreos blended into frosting is just soooo good! And if you haven’t tried Swiss meringue buttercream yet, I highly recommend you try it, and soon. It’s creamy, light and fluffy, not overly sweet, and just oh so amazing. Placing an Oreo at the bottom of each cupcake adds a little extra surprise that everyone seemed to love! This devils food cupcake has also become my go-to chocolate cupcake. It’s the perfect texture and flavor. Now I just need to find a go-to vanilla cupcake! :)Oreo Cupcakes
Yield: 32 cupcakes

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. Place an Oreo in the bottom of each cupcake liner.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth; set aside and let cool slightly. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in the vanilla extract then the cocoa mixture, beating until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, beating until just combined.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way full. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the Oreo buttercream: In the work bowl of a food processor attached with the steel blade, blend the Oreo cookies until fine crumbs form; set aside.

Set a heatproof mixing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Combine the egg whites and sugar in the bowl. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 140 degrees F, or all sugar is dissolved and mixture is hot to the touch.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on low speed for 2 minutes, gradually increasing to high speed. Beat until stiff peaks form and mixing bowl is cool to the touch. With the mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add a couple tablespoons of butter at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating on medium-high speed until thick and smooth. Add the Oreo crumbs and beat until fully incorporated. Switch to the paddle attachment and beat on low speed for 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles. Spoon frosting into pastry bag fittind with large decorating tip. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

I love the flavors of this season. While gingerbread isn’t one of my favorite flavors, it’s so traditional for this time of the year, I couldn’t resist! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy little gingerbread men and whatnot, just in small doses. And these cupcakes are little cake versions of those tasty seasonal cookies. Cream cheese frosting is such a common pairing with gingerbread, and I know it’s what some people would want and expect. And who am I to disappoint! But at the same time, I saw so many unique frostings paired up with other gingerbread cupcakes, and I really wanted to try a less traditional flavor.I couldn’t decide between the two frosting options, so I asked at work and on Facebook. I didn’t really get a clear winner there, either, though one person recommended putting both frostings on one cupcake! As good as that sounds, I took their suggestion with a sort of twist… I made both frostings and one batch of cupcakes, so now I have extra frosting already made for when I make another batch of cupcakes!! Win-win for me and everyone who gets extra cupcakes! Hehe. The frosting went wonderfully with the cupcakes, and all the flavors complimented each other perfectly. If you are a fan of gingerbread, you’ll absolutely love these cupcakes!Gingerbread Cupcakes with Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Buttercream

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and salt; set aside. In another small bowl, stir together the boiling water and baking soda until dissolved; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses, egg, and vanilla. Slowly beat in the baking soda water. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture; mix until just combined.

Spoon the gingerbread batter into the prepared cupcake tins. Bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes to the wire rack and cool completely.

To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together until creamy. Add the cinnamon and confectioners’ sugar; beat at medium-low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated. Add the cream 1 tablespoon at a time, until frosting is smooth and fluffy. Frost cupcakes and decorate as desired.

Chocolate makes the best desserts, and it’s only made better by the addition of alcohol! And the great thing about cupcakes is that you don’t have an entire cake sitting around in your frig, waiting to be eaten. You can give away cupcakes much more easily!

I originally made these cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day, but they’re good enough to be eaten any time of the year. Any chocolate cupcake would do, but my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe is the Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake. To make them more festive, you could replace the water in the cupcakes with Guinness stout. The beer won’t overpower the chocolate flavor of the cupcakes, but it will instead help enhance the chocolate flavor.

Brush the Irish Cream liqueur onto the cupcakes to help them retain their moisture, then top with a simple buttercream flavored with more Irish Cream, and you’ll have perfection!Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake with Irish Cream Buttercream

To make the cupcakes: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper baking cups. Prepare for 30 cupcakes.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. With a mixer, beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Fill muffin cups ⅔ full with batter.

Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then move them to wire racks to cool.

While the cupcakes are still warm, use a pastry brush to brush one or two layers of Baileys Irish Cream onto the tops of the cupcakes.

To make the frosting: Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer and beat the butter on medium-high speed until soft and creamy. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, beating until the sugar is fully incorporated. If you wish for thicker frosting, add more powdered sugar. Add the Baileys and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Makes enough frosting to frost the cooled cupcakes liberally.